Forum Help

If you want to ask about changing your username, have login problems, have password problems or a technical issue please email forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com

Posting help:

If you want to ask why a word can't be typed, your signature's been changed, or a post has been deleted see the Forum Rules. If you don't find the answer you can ask forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com though due to volumes we can't guarantee replies.

Login to MSE Forum

Join the MSE Forum

Skimlinks adds tracking to some, primarily retailers' links, to show they come from this forum. For some retailers, instead of using Skimlinks to turn the link into a tracked link, we use affiliated links set up through other third parties. Then if it generates revenue from that, this site is paid. The links don't change the content, or what you see or track individual data ? but they do help fund this free forum. So we hope you choose to switch it on. See the full Skimlinks factsheet for more.

I've read around the pages on here but can't find anything quite like the situation I am in and was wondering if anyone could offer any advice.

In November 2016 I got a letter through the post from VCS regarding a PCN for parking in a private residential car park without displaying a valid permit.

I ignored the initial letters but a month ago I received a letter from BW Legal saying that I owed £160 or I would be taken to court etc.

In their letter it says to go to their site and login to the customer portal, however on trying to do this their site is broken and the portal is not accessible.

I sent them an email explaining that their site didn't work.

I also explained that there was mitigating circumstances to parking there. The space in question belongs to my parents flat. At the time my dad had been diagnosed with a terminal illness and my mum was looking after him at home which meant that myself and the family would go over to help when needed or take my dad to or from the hospital.

My parents didn't own a car and so we would share the permit which was left at my parents house.

Upon parking there the driver would either go and help my dad to/from the car to the flat or get the parking permit to display if they would be any longer.

I can only assume that the parking fine was issued when either the driver was getting the permit to display or fetching/taking my dad to/from the flat.

I never received a response to my email but have just received a final notice letter saying I hadn't replied or paid the fine and that they would be taking this to court.

I once again replied by email (their website is still not working) with an attachment of the email I originally sent.

Can anyone advise on if I've done the correct thing or what I should expect next?

No, you gave away the driver. With VCS this removes one point of defence

Assuming it states they WILL issue court papers, please confirm whether this meets the requirements of the new Pre Action Protocol for debt claims, valid from October 1st this year. If not ,respond back demanding they comply.

How this site works

We think it's important you understand the strengths and limitations of the site. We're a journalistic website and aim to provide the best MoneySaving guides, tips, tools and techniques, but can't guarantee to be perfect, so do note you use the information at your own risk and we can't accept liability if things go wrong.

This info does not constitute financial advice, always do your own research on top to ensure it's right for your specific circumstances and remember we focus on rates not service.

Do note, while we always aim to give you accurate product info at the point of publication, unfortunately price and terms of products and deals can always be changed by the provider afterwards, so double check first.

We don't as a general policy investigate the solvency of companies mentioned (how likely they are to go bust), but there is a risk any company can struggle and it's rarely made public until it's too late (see the Section 75 guide for protection tips).

We often link to other websites, but we can't be responsible for their content.

Always remember anyone can post on the MSE forums, so it can be very different from our opinion.

MoneySavingExpert.com is part of the MoneySupermarket Group, but is entirely editorially independent. Its stance of putting consumers first is protected and enshrined in the legally-binding MSE Editorial Code.